Beginning today, in partnership with ICIS-LOR, Oilspot News with FlashPoint will publish ICIS-LOR’s weekly U.S. base oil prices.

ICIS-LOR provides pricing information on the petrochemical and oil markets with reports published on more than 120 commodities and with a frequency ranging from four times per day to monthly. The pricing information is gathered by a team of 45 full time specialist editors and reporters based in London, Houston and Singapore. As such, ICIS-LOR offers the most complete, authoritative and up-to-the minute independent commodity market information available.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which has responsibility for reviewing all proposed and final regulations issued by federal agencies, is considering whether to rescind or update a number of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that it considers outmoded or outdated. The decision comes as part of a congressionally mandated review of the costs and benefits of federal regulations. Not surprisingly, environmentalists are outraged by the announcement, and vow to fight the decision.

DETROIT -- The Bush administration launched a partnership Wednesday with domestic automakers to spur the growth of hydrogen fuel cells for the next generation of cars and trucks, hoping to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil while reducing tailpipe pollution, according to an Associated Press report.

The new program, called Freedom Cooperative Automotive Research, will also focus on developing a hydrogen refueling infrastructure, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said. “The long-term results of this cooperative effort will be cars and trucks that are more efficient, cheaper to operate, pollution-free and competitive in the showroom,” Abraham said at the North American International Auto Show.